Voluntary versus compulsory sterilization in sweden then and now
Sjövall, H.
Lakartidningen 72(4): 241-245
1975
ISSN/ISBN: 0023-7205 PMID: 1091790 Document Number: 92826
On June 27, 1974, the Commission on Sterilization submitted its report entitled "Voluntary Sterilization" to the Ministry of Justice. The present situation in Sweden exists because the original reasons for the law have been found untenable in practice, and the law itself is an obstacle to a sensible application. Consequently, the granting committee is now restricted as a practice which has "to a remarkable degree diverged from the working of the law and the intentions of the legislator" (Report, p. 82). The author illustrates this judgement by reviewing the Board of Health statistics on sterilization between 1935 and 1973, on legal abortion, including sterilizations compulsory for eugenically indicated abortion, and adds some critical comments on the proposals of the Commission. (Author's modified)